You May Soon Be Able To Buy Your Own Drone For Only $50

Unmanned aerial vehicles have seen extensive use in Iraq and
Afghanistan, but the military isn't the only organization playing
the drone game.

As IEEE Spectrum reports, you may be seeing your own personal
drone on shelves soon, and the small price tag will make it
accessible to everyone.

A company called Always Innovating is working on a palm-sized
robot called MeCam that is capable of autonomous flight. Four
rotors keep it in the air as it follows you around and shoots
video, which it then can stream to your smart phone.

The hardwarecan run from 1.0GHz
to 1.5GHz depending on the configuration, which also packs in 1GB
RAM, an SD card, and 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
capabilities.

Other features include 14 sensors that keep it hovering safely,
voice control, and a video stabilization system. The company says
it could potentially be available "by the beginning of 2014" at a
$49 price point.

The purpose is for personal surveillance: it can be launched from
the palm of your hand so it can follow you around, or take
panoramic shots with a goal of sharing to social media sites.

But that doesn't mean it couldn't have other uses.

Embedded in the chip is a fully open-source version of Linux — a
platform that would give tinkerers and hackers alike plenty of
opportunity to change its given use into something even more
interesting or insidious.